Category Archives: Interviews

It’s that time of year again, ‘Mech fans! The MechWarrior Online World Championship is just around the corner. The three final teams have crushed all others to become the best three teams in the world, and we sit down with MWO shoutcasters BanditB17 and mdmzero0 to get their take on this year’s tournament.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. That saying applies indescribably well to BattleTech. From the clean, sleek lines of scout ‘Mechs and vehicles to the thundering awesomeness of the largest assault machines, art brings the turmoil of the BattleTech universe to life. The images in our TRO’s and Source books lets us imagine these gargantuan machines storming across the battlefields of the Inner Sphere.

I was fortunate enough to catch up with one of this generation’s best BattleTech artists, Matthew Plog. Matthew was gracious enough to take some time out of his day to answer a few questions that gives us a glimpse into the mind of an artist and the workings of creating awesome BattleTech art.

Martin (Sarna): Let’s start from the very beginning, for all those budding artists out there who may read this. Where did you study art?

Matthew: First off I had a very creative mother and she was of course very encouraging to her young son. Now that that’s out of the way :), I received my more formal art education in New Jersey at the Joe Kubert School for cartoon and Graphic design. 95-98′.

Martin (Sarna): It’s great on many levels to have that family connection to your passion. What got you interested in designing BattleTech equipment?

Matthew: I’d always loved machines, robots, tanks and the like. Started with Saturday morning and weekday cartoons. Ranging from G.I. Joe and all their gear to Voltron, Tranzor Z, even Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. Anything along those lines fed what I liked, and thus made me like that kind of thing even more.

Martin (Sarna): There are some great blasts from the past there and lots to draw from for inspiration. So what was your first experience with BattleTech work?

Matthew: Well, after time things get fuzzy. I know I started picking up work with FASA, who owned BattleTech at the time, directly from school. I believe it may have been work in one of the Battleforce boxed sets, BF2 if I recall correctly. That was mostly just introductory type work and shortly thereafter I got a big slice of the TRO3060 roster. As far as the experience goes, working with the BattleTech guys was always good. They knew what they were after, knew the right things to say to get it, and usually paid on time.;)

Martin (Sarna): As a writer I find it easy working with words. As an artist and with only words to work with, how do you go about transforming those words into drawings?

Matthew: Having everything I’m doing take place in a universe that has already been established helps. It gives you the framework. But the words do the same thing to non-artists that they do to artists, we hear something, we see it in our head. We just have the ability to get it back out. Plus almost nothing ever gets to its end state on the first go. There’s almost always something that gets missed or minimized when it should be far more evident. That’s why we have art editors.

Martin (Sarna): Can you describe your design creation process? Do you typically start from the ground up (literally) or work from the head down?

Matthew: Such things often end up being on a case by case. If there’s an important structure to whatever I’m drawing I’ll start there. But if we’re just talking general ‘Mechs then I start from the inside out. Since the universe has an established set of rules for its technology they tend to follow biological rules a bit. What with artificial muscle and man-mind controls. So typically an arm is an arm and a leg, other. Having fun with the sliders in the BT universe between straight machine look and more manlike is usually one of the fun parts of design. But usually the most important thing when designing is to remember what rules you’re supposed to be following. That tends to make the difference. Of course, also when to ignore them.

Martin (Sarna): You create a lot of excellent commissioned art, particularly via DeviantArt. What’s the thrill for you in doing this type of work as opposed to an entirely new creation?

Matthew: BattleTech fans have always been a fine bunch to do business with, so they make it fairly easy. Drawing something different every time has its appeal. I’m unlikely to be able to complain of stagnation, at least on a one to one basis.

Martin (Sarna): Between business and commissioned requests it sounds like you’re kept pretty busy. Do you have a lot of back-work waiting to see the light of day or do you create upon request?

Matthew: There are some personal projects still in sketchy stages, but generally I share everything that I’d consider “done”. Usually a good idea to show off the latest commissions and such. But when I’m not working on one of them, likely I’m doodling something else for sure.

Martin (Sarna): Do you play BattleTech? If so for how long and how often?

Matthew: I haven’t played the actual board game version in every part of 15 years but I still love the miniatures, buying and painting them. In keeping with the tone set by the first time I ever heard “BattleTech” I’ve played it most recently in the computerized form. I played MechWarrior Online for a bit and am looking forward to trying out the BattleTech turn based game as well.

Martin (Sarna): I can vouch that the latest BattleTech game by Harebrained Schemes is well worth the time and money. I hope you have a lot of fun playing it and we would love to hear about your experiences with it in the future.

Thanks very much for your time, Matt. It’s very interesting to get a little glimpse behind the curtain of a well-established BattleTech artist. We all look forward to seeing more of your work in the near future.

For those of you wanting to keep up to date with Matt’s work (and you absolutely should!) or contact him about commission work, you can follow his DeviantArt account here: MattPLOG on DeviantArt

Welcome to another episode of Community Outreach! The famous and handsome owner of Sarna.net recently went down to Gen Con and had a chance to speak with Jennifer Brozek, author of The Nellus Academy Incident as well as the upcoming Rogue Trilogy of YA BattleTech novels. Using his rugged good looks and amazing charm he somehow convinced her to agree to an interview, which must’ve made the fact the interview was done by me all the more disappointing.

Disappointment aside, Jennifer brings a new voice to the BattleTech narrative. We chat about how she got roped into writing about giant stompy robots and how important it is to include death in a YA novel. Enjoy!Continue reading →

Welcome to Community Outreach! This week we have a very special guest: Brent Evans, the lead developer on BattleTech over at Catalyst Game Labs. We talk about the future of BattleTech, what awesome new products are coming out in 2018, and a bunch of random stuff that I’ve always wanted to ask the guy in charge of things. Enjoy!

Sean (Sarna): Nic let me know that he’s reached out to you for an interview on our humble website, and tasked me with doing all the heavy lifting :)

Brent (Catalyst Game Labs): Humble website – are you kidding?!? Sarna is the greatest single resource for BattleTech fans anywhere. In this is one of the most complicated IPs from a legal standpoint in existence. Don’t sell yourself short there Sean, there’s nothing humble about it. Sarna is the best and literally every member of the creative team uses it extensively.

Sean: Aww, that’s so sweet of you to say! I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet personally at Mech_Con, as you were definitely on my list of people to say “hi” to and get a quick interview with. I’m glad for the opportunity to ask you a few questions now.

Brent: Yeah that would have been awesome. I love MechCon, great show, but with all the overwhelming stuff going on there I would likely have been too distracted by all the mech stuff around us to finish a sentence. This is likely a better forum for a Q&A. No sweat.

Brent: Oh yeah we have dropship-loads of awesome product coming out, and most of it is geared toward new players and getting minis on tabletop battlefields.

“There’s really just a whole bunch of awesome coming down on BattleTech for 2018.”

We’ve got the two box sets announce at GenCon – the Beginner Box and the Game of Armored Combat. We’ve got new Maps – the first six of which were used to run all the demos at MechCon (to fanfare and accolades). There are new Hex Pack products in the works to augment those maps, new MechWarrior RPG products that the DevTeam just found out about today, a new sourcebook moving the timeline forward (which I will detail in a few questions further down), and a whole host of reprints as we make big moves to keep every book from the core line in print on store shelves – starting with Total Warfare(which should hit store shelves in July). Plus there are new novels, new novellas, a hint at new audiobooks, PDF supplemental products, I have new ‘Mechs up my sleeves… There’s really just a whole bunch of awesome coming down on BattleTech for 2018. The year of BattleTech!

Sean: I think we can both agree that every year should be a year of BattleTech :) As a brief aside since I always wanted to ask: who is the artist that did all the redesigned classic or “Unseen” ‘Mechs? Like this guy.

“Anthony and Alexander delivered a truly spectacular new chapter for the game, and have shown us what can be done ‘in a perfect world.'”

Brent: Yes – every one of them was designed by legendary BT artist Anthony Scroggins. This was a massive effort, unlike any mech design efforts before, with Anthony handling art but editing direction done by myself, Randall Bills and Ray Arrastia. The three of us rarely agree on anything so to get each design past all three of us took a truly painful amount of work (Anthony was such a trooper). But he didn’t just create one image and call it done; Anthony designed the ‘Mechs from every angle, then worked with 3D master Alexander Immerzeel to build the 3D models so they can be used by the other BT artists (like Marco Mazzoni and SpOoKy) to make sure the ‘Mechs look right each time they are shown. It also allowed us to use the 3D models for our prototypes and production, ensuring the figures match the art perfectly.

It was a herculean task the likes of which we’ve never tackled before in BattleTech, but the results have been totally worth it. Anthony and Alexander delivered a truly spectacular new chapter for the game, and have shown us what can be done “in a perfect world.” Mad props to all those guys. I have big plans in store for these guys.

Sean: What kind of worldwide events does Catalyst have planned for 2018?

Brent: Actually, Mary’s team is working on that as we speak so even I don’t know yet. I’ve just sent her the bulk of the conflicts from Shattered Fortress but since Con events needed to be scheduled far in advance (I believe the deadline was in December) I don’t know what magic she will be able to work. She’s amazing so I’m sure the events will be awesome, but I don’t know which in-universe battles will make the WWE as opposed to the Canon/Feature Events. What I do know is there is a lot of Warfare going on here in the BattleTech universe so she’s likely spoiled for choice.

Sean: Do we have any concrete dates on when the new box sets will be available? I know you mentioned Spring of 2018 at Mech_Con, but is there a specific target date?

Brent: Honestly we never have concrete dates on anything coming out of China because, between the shutdowns around Chinese New Year and their generally unique approach to scheduling things, there are always curve balls and hiccups. So specific dates are a “no”. I do have a target window (June) and a worst-case-scenario window (October), so the reality will likely fall somewhere between the two. Expect them to show up sometime this summer, and for me to move hell or high water to get copies to GenCon, and you should be happy.

Sean: Yeah, that sounds like something I’d be happy about. Let’s talk about the new fiction. What stories are coming out in 2018? Who are the authors? Will they be novels or short fiction? And most important, what will this new crop of fiction be about?

Brent: Ah fiction… This part is equal parts exciting and scary as hell because there are so many epic stories coming up over the next 24 months – and truly amazing authors with potential fingers in the pot. But until all the details get nailed down I’ll have to stay mum on almost all of it. So I will say what I can.

“Everyone knows that I am committed to having fiction drive the narrative for the BattleTech storyline.”

Everyone knows that I am committed to having fiction drive the narrative for the BattleTech storyline. We’ve proven to be exceedingly good at getting books written and printed, but getting novels through distribution (which has a totally different channel from game product) has proven to be hit or miss. Our Novel Line Editor John Helfers is working to correct that but please know Catalyst is absolutely creating new novels for both print and ePub formats. We are also working on a series of new novellas, the launch of a new audiobooks line, and the Development team is tying the fiction plots into PDF supplemental products so that the conflicts on pages can be fought on tables with minis. Bringing in several authors to help map out our storyline plots surrounding ilClan is delivering a number of collateral benefits and I think the fans will love what we’ve put together.

A prime example of which is the upcoming short fiction from the Game of Armored Combat. Getting Bill Keith back on BattleTech is a fanboy dream come true. Enticing the creator of the Gray Death Legion to write a new chapter of BT-Lore detailing the previous generation, with Grayson’s father’s unit… That’s just awesome. And I’m diabolically scheming plots to unleash him on to keep him crafting BattleTech. He’s still got it, and is just one of the many voices of BattleTech who will be bringing the storylines to life.

Sean:Why aren’t those giant versions of the figurines you showcased at Mech_Con available for purchase?

Brent: Oh man those sure were cool weren’t they! Neither Randall or I have any yet, but believe me we want some. But yes those are not available for purchase because they were personally created by the Demo Agents who attended the event. In fact, they were prototyped individually on a 3D printer, and they take a full 40 hours to make – each. The only reason those are available at Mech_Con is that the DemoTeam who support the event pull strings with a friend and have one or two done every year. I’m trying to barter swag and maple cookies to see if I can get some, but so far it’s all to no avail. Gotta love how far our fans and Demo Agents will go to support their love of BattleTech.

Brent: Ah, that’s easy. Catalyst doesn’t coordinate with PGI at all – there’s no formal relationship there. But they are obviously huge fans so when then need someone’s subject matter expertise they just reach out directly to whomever they need. It’s pretty much always Randall, who dabbles in a little moonlighting from time to time to offer build recommendations for the various video game companies working on our properties. PGI doesn’t need my insights because they have Alex Iglesias who handles all their visuals, and he’s awesome. But Randall’s build expertise and universe knowledge is pretty awesome, so he’s a great resource. I didn’t hear about the specifics of the Sun Spider until I showed up at MechCon and bought the shirt. (Huh… I really should have arranged a swag trade for that shirt. Didn’t even think of that.)

Sean: Yeah, that was a missed opportunity bud. So what’s going on with IlClan? When is it coming out, and what will we find out about the new direction BattleTech is headed?

Brent: The answer to that one is both simple and immensely complicated. The short answer is that ilClan is turning from one modest book into a “Big Bang” moment delivered by two Sourcebooks, several playable events, a series of fiction products (novels/novellas) and a whole lot of in-universe collateral damage as lots of sh** hits many fans.

The first of those two Sourcebooks is nearing completion now so I can totally talk about. Titled Shattered Fortress this ilClan lead-in is scheduled for release in early summer. What this means for the Republic of the Sphere – well, you’ll have to get the book to find out. But the creative team and Author Phil Lee have done an exceptional job of crafting this book! Whether it be the crescendo to Stone’s vision or the prelude to many nightmares, the denizens of the Inner Sphere are soon to find out. But know that it sets the stage for the titanic clashes that will unfold in the upcoming ilClan plotlines.

Later in the year we’ll be announcing more info about the next ilClan release and supporting products. All of the BattleTech product lines (fiction, sourcebooks, supplementals) will have stories that spin off the events in ilClan – so expect implications to spread across the Inner Sphere. As Line Dev, I’m balancing the release of new material and reprints, so expect further details and ETAs later in 2018.

Sean: Sarna is sure to be waiting with baited breath. Finally,on a scale of 1-10, how badly do you want Harmony Gold to self-immolate?

Brent: HAH! I may burst into flames in excitement just thinking about it. :0)

Brent, thank you so much for agreeing to sit down and chat with us. We here at Sarna just can’t wait to see all the incredible new products that CGL will put out this year.

This week in Community Outreach we actually look within for our special guest: Sarna’s creator, owner, and Commander in Chief, Nic Jansma. Nic takes us behind the scenes with key Sarna facts, an origin story unlike any other, and of course, what’s in store for the future of the best darned BattleTech Wiki around. Enjoy!

Now that the MechWarrior Online World Championships are over, it’s time to both look back at the tournament to see what worked really well, and also to look ahead to see what could be improved for next year. And I can think of no two people more qualified to speak to that subject than the two guys who have seen more of the tournament than anyone else, Ben “BanditB17” and Mike “mdmzero0”, the shoutcasters for the World Championship.

We sat down to chat about their thoughts on the most recent World Championship, the teams, and how things could be better for next time.

Welcome to Community Outreach! Many of you were impressed by last week’s teaser video of a brand new animated MechWarrior series on YouTube. To find out more, I reached out to the teaser’s director, RoA Nitrox, who was kind enough to answer a few questions about the video’s development and how he became a BattleTech fan. Enjoy!

UPDATE: It looks like the video has been taken down. According to Nitrox, Black Plasma Studios received a cease and desist letter. Rumor is there’s some internal negotiation happening, so hopefully, it’ll be back soon. The response – before it was taken down – was certainly good enough to warrant a real animated series.

So yeah, this one is coming is pretty late. I do apologize to the readers out there. After GenCon got really hectic for me professionally, and, well, it is what it is.

At this point, the game has progressed a bit past the improvements of the then new patch that Jordan and I discussed, so I’m going to re-tool my original interview to be my impressions of the interview and of Jordan and what we talked about.

GenCon 50 has come and gone. Wow. I have to pause and let that sink in every year.

I spend the better part of six to eight months in a year planning for and making sure that I get everything in my professional and personal life squared away in order to make sure I can make it to GenCon.

Now, that’s not to say that I do so at the peril of myself or those around me. No, GenCon is for me that one time of year when I don’t have to explain anything about what I do professionally or for fun to anybody. Everyone there understands it. So I tend to make sure I can go.

With the Post-GenCon Recovery Period (I swear it’s a thing!) still affecting some of us (mostly in the finance region), I need to take the time to share some key aspects of the experience. In particular, I want to share with you all the hour of time I spent talking to Jordan Weisman, creator of BattleTech and one of the heads of Harebrained Schemes, about the new computer game version of BattleTech.

A note on how I am going to reflect on this time. My recording app malfunctioned during the actual interview portion, so I only have the notes that I took from the interview. As such, I won’t directly quote Weisman unless I wrote down his exact phrasing.

First, BattleTech had a huge development release the day that I spoke to Weisman. They had just released the first multi-player backer beta build for the game, so the Harebrained booth was abuzz with fans playing the new version as well as many people standing around to watch the action on the screen, stand behind their friends, and just chat about BattleTech in general.

I met Jordan Weisman a little before our interview, stopping by to verify the time, and he said he was looking forward to sitting down, playing a round of the new release, and then talking!

Wait.

What?!

I was going to get to go head-to-head against Jordan Weisman in BATTLETECH?!!!!

I was already excited about the interview itself, but finding out I’d get to actually play a game with Jordan Weisman was icing on an already delicious looking cake.

So, the time came, and we sat down to play. We selected out Mechs and dove on in. My experience with the BattleTech Beta at that point had been in the 10-12 hour range, so I knew I was at an extreme disadvantage going up against Weisman.

I was right.

The following thirty minutes was a whirlwind of back and forth not-quite-trash-talking as I sent my Lance in hard and fast….straight into the wall of strategy and effective tactics that was Weisman’s way of war. My Lance got picked apart one `Mech at a time, and it was glorious!

After his pyrrhic victory, Weisman humbly asked if I’d enjoyed it, and of course I did!

Because I foolishly didn’t fanboy hard enough, I don’t have a selfie with Jordan Weisman for the article! This will have to do. Weisman is seen here showing off the Kickstarter flight jacket reward.

So then we sat down and talked about the game, much of which is old news at this point. But the highlights that remain with me can be summed up in a few points.

The BattleTech community is great, and Weisman and Harebrained love every bit of interaction they get with us. They live off of our energy, and then they give it right back us in the best ways possible.

The next phase for Harebrained and BattleTech in general is what Weisman called “outreach,” continuing to get the word out, and the established community is a huge part of that. Harebrained want BattleTech to find every gamer and to read out beyond the pull it has now to get even bigger.

Now that the core mechanics of the game itself are established, there’s still much more to do in the way of developing the story, lore, and the extended campaign. Even though we’re a couple of months down the road from when I spoke to Weisman, I know they’re still hammering away at making the campaign the best experience it can possibly be.

There is nowhere else that Weisman and his team would rather be than right where they, making BattleTech. They’re pumped up. They love our excitement for the game and universe, and they look forward to much more BattleTech in the future.

For me, this short game and talk with Jordan Weisman will be one of only two or three stand-out moments from GenCon 50 that I know I will keep in my memory for many years to come.

It’s not just a fanboy moment. I mean, yeah, it’s a little bit of that, but it’s also more. Jordan Weisman’s enthusiasm for BattleTech is amazing, and that really has kept me charged up for everything to do with the game(s), on the table and on the screen.

Thank you to Jordan Weisman and Harebrained Schemes for working to bring us this amazing gaming experience in our favorite universe. We look forward to its release, and hope for more after it!

Welcome to Community Outreach! This week we speak with Todd “Mastergunz” Farnholtz, a BattleTech Miniature painter and admin at CamoSpecs Online, the biggest site and Facebook group for miniature ‘Mech painting enthusiasts. We ask him about CamoSpecs, how it came about, and how he joined up to help define the unit colors of ‘Mechs the universe over. Enjoy!

Sean (Sarna): Who are you? Briefly introduce yourself.

Mastergunz: My name is Todd Farnholtz, but I go by the handle ‘Mastergunz’ on CSO. I joined the group in Summer of 2009 – just in time to get a single piece done and added to that year’s Gencon 2009 CSO diorama. It was a Word of Blake Raptor II and I rushed to paint it because the mini had just come out and wanted to display it on the board. I’ve been playing BattleTech since 93′, so having an opportunity to be a part of the game I loved was a huge achievement for me.

courtesy of CamoSpecs

Sean: What is CamoSpecs? That is, how would you describe it to someone who doesn’t know much about it?

Mastergunz: CamoSpecs.com is a 100% fan run organization that provides visual references to canon paint schemes for the BattleTech universe. While we do get support from IWM (Iron Wind Metals) and Catalyst for special projects, the site and its upkeep is 100% on us. We are a dedicated group of artists that comb all available canon sources to make sure what we paint is accurate to what is written. We have even at times been asked to create schemes for new units as they were created by the authors.

Sean: When did you join CamoSpecs?

Mastergunz: I joined in 2009 after 2 failed submissions; finally made it in on my 3rd attempt.

Sean: What was the original idea behind CamoSpecs?

Mastergunz: I wasn’t around for the initial inception, which was 2 years prior I believe. The site and what it sought to do was conceptualized and inspired by the old FASA Camo Specs book showing the various paint schemes of the units in the BattleTech universe.

Mastergunz: I’ve always been a lover of all thing giant robots. Starting back in the 80’s with Transformers, Voltron, Robotech, etc… the 2nd Edition box set is what introduced me to miniature wargaming and painting. Kit bashing the various variants of the ‘Mechs was just something that we all did from the start.

courtesy of CamoSpecs

Sean: How long does it take to make some of these miniatures?

Mastergunz: I can’t speak for the sculpting side of things but painting a single mini used to take quite a while. In the beginning I would spend 6-7 hours on a single piece to get it to tabletop standard. As with all things in life, practice makes perfect (and learning to use an airbrush didn’t hurt) so I can finish a ‘Mech from primer to seal coat in about 3 hours now and feel it is of display quality.

Sean: What’s your favorite ‘Mech? An all-important question.

Mastergunz: Hands down the AWS- 9Q Awesome. I’ve never been a finesse player so something that hits hard and can take a beating is right up my alley. The 9Q is the original zombie. I even have a licence plate frame on my truck that says ‘My other ride is an AWS-9Q’.

courtesy of CamoSpecs

Sean:And what’s your favorite miniature you’ve built?

Mastergunz:My favorite ‘Mech I’ve ever built and painted for BattleTech/CSO changes constantly as my skills improve, but I’d have to say my most recent favorite was the Zeus X4. It’s a solid model with a lot of dynamics to its assembly so it doesn’t have to be static.

courtesy of CamoSpecs

Sean:What parts of BattleTech do you play? Perhaps a better question, what haven’t you played?

Mastergunz: I’ve played all the computer and console games, tabletop (both hex sheet and miniature rules) and little bit of Alpha Strike. I never got into the Dark Ages Clix Game but do own a ton of the models for kit bashing purposes. And of course I was a backer for the recent Kickstarter from Harebrained Schemes and am super excited for the beta to release.

Sean: How has CamoSpecs collaborated with official BattleTech content producers, like Catalyst Games?

Mastergunz: Yes. Our group leader, Ray Arrastia (who was recently promoted to Assistant Line Developer for BattleTech), is our direct liaison with Catalyst. We have been tasked with working on art for almost all of the books released in the last several years, most recently the Combat Manual: Mercenaries book and Alpha Strike.

courtesy of CamoSpecs

Sean: Let’s talk numbers. How BIG is CamoSpecs?

Mastergunz: CamoSpecs is currently a stable of about 15-20 painters, though only 6-10 of us are fairly active. You have to remember that this is a purely voluntary group and so we do what we can as real life allows.

Sean:What’s in store for CamoSpecs in the future?

Mastergunz:The million dollar question. Well I can say we have been working behind the scenes to keep things going via Facebook, mostly. Since we lost our server host in 2015 it has been a task to try and set up something that was as comprehensive and easy to use as the original site. Again, as a fan run volunteer group the time needed to essentially build a new site from the ground up is prohibitive but we are working on something right now.

Mastergunz: BattleTech is my first love in miniature wargaming, and so I want to say thanks to all my fellow artist who over the years have pushed me to be better and became very good friends of mine – meeting up at cons and such. I can honestly say I would not be the artist I am today if not for their constructive criticism over the years and seeing the stuff they were turning out and making me say to myself “I want to learn to do that technique!”.

Shameless self plug time! To see some of my more recent BattleTech work (as well as not BattleTech) you can visit my painting page, Mastergunz Paint Worx, on Facebook and YouTube.

Also, some of my fellow CSO artist have a pages as well: “Captain of the Watch” Ed Smith on his Facebook page, and “B1BFlyer” Ryan Peterson runs a YouTube channel for CSO with lots of very cool tutorial videos up.

Incredible thanks to Mastergunz for agreeing to sit down with us. Tune in next time for more Community Outreach!

Welcome to Community Outreach! This week we speak with BanditB17, a MechWarrior Online Shoutcaster, MRBC league admin, and all around hyper-connected individual in the MechWarrior Online community. We ask him what it’s like to cast some of the biggest games in MechWarrior as well as help out with one of MWO’s biggest leagues. Enjoy!

Sean (Sarna): To start, who are you? Briefly introduce yourself.

BanditB17: I am BanditB17. I am a community shoutcaster and Official Shoutcaster for the Mechwarrior Online World Championship 2016 and, hopefully, 2017.

Sean: Hopefully.

BanditB17:Hopefully, yeah. I am one of the administrators for the MRBC under Doyle. We are, of course, entering into our ninth season of competitive play. I started playing around season four and then became an admin around season six. I also do shoutcasting for MRBC, which actually got me started, and then I was able to move into more awesome things, of course. And I am drop-caller and leader, one of the leaders, of MarineMechs Divison B competitive-casual team.